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Galloper Thompson
Galloper Thompson is a legend told by Jorvegians for centuries. He can only be found during Halloween. History Before Thompson became the Galloper, he was a mere man - a man with no trace of Aideen's light inside him. Horses would avoid him at all cost... all except a black Jorvik Wild Horse he brought with him from the east. The mare would allow nobody other than Thompson to handle her and when the druids concerned about the mare's lack of Aideen's light tried to take her away from him, he went after them. Later, during the uprising against Jon Jarl, he was said to be the last man standing after the traitors and the Great Jarl's servants met on a battlefield. It is also told that he acquired immortality sometime before the uprising and that the Jarl was jealous of him. Jon Jarl then ordered Thompson to bring him the secret of immortality, but because of an unknown cause - either Thompson's effort to get the secret to the Jarl was sabotaged or he decided to keep it for himself - he was sentenced to death shortly after that. On the day of his execution, he still remained loyal to the Jarl and when the executioner's axe came down, he stood up headless. He was carried away by his black mare while the Jarl's men ran away panicking. After that, he became the Jarl's enemy - he patrolled the King's Road and killed anyone he saw as loyal to the Jarl. To this day, sighting him is a sign of terrible things to come. Galloper's story as told by Linda: Galloper Thompson was originally a warrior in the fleet of Jon Jarl, and his name back then was Gunnar Thrymson! During the long and nearly catastrophic voyage from Scandinavia that led to the "discovery" of Jorvik, pirates from the baltic attacked the Jarl's fleet. It was during this epic sea battle that Thrymson rose to prominence, proving himself the hero who turned the tide and saved the Jarl's ship! In return, Jon Jarl gave Thrymson freedom and promised him riches. Jon Jarl led the construction of the first settlement at Fort Pinta. Thrymson continued to serve Jon Jarl as a huskarl (A member of the bodyguard or household troops of a Danish or Anglo-Saxon king or noble. Basically right-hand-dude). In time, the Jarl began to see Thrymson as the most trusted member of his court. The Jarl brought him everywhere as bodyguard and advisor. When the colonists first arrived, they assumed that they had stumbled upon an unspoiled and uninhabited paradise. Soon this illusion was shattered, as the Jarl's men discovered runestones carved in an unfamiliar language and other signs of human presence. Jon Jarl ordered Thrymson to destroy the runestones as he couldn't allow these monuments to challenge his claim to the island. Thrymson was nervous about destroying the mysterious stones in case he would offend some foreign gods, but his loyalty to Jon Jarl led him to follow his orders anyway. Thrymson was sent out with a group of men to destroy the rune stones. After one of his men mysteriously died, the rest left out of fear. Thrymson tried his best and managed to topple a stone on his own. He then noticed he was being watched by a mysterious woman. She took an interest in Thrymson, and promised him A GIFT - he would never die by human hands. Thrymson returned to Jon Jarl to inform him about his men's defection and the small progress he had made, when he was surprised to find the Jarl speaking with new faces - a group known as the Keppers of Aideen. Jon Jarl made peace with the "Druids", and Thrymson was no longer the favored companion. A decade or so after the discovery of the rune stones. Jon Jarl ordered the construction of Jarlaheim. The royal stables were constructed at what would become known as Jorvik Stables. Because the Jarl was favored by the Keepers of Aideen, he was gifted many amazing horses. Strangely, no horse would let Thrymson near. At first it was a joke among the men that he couldn't find a horse while everyone else came to bond with these amazing animals. But soon it became clear that stronger forces were at work... One of the Druids said that Thrymson carried a mark that made him unclean in Aideen's light. Eventually he found a horse - a wild black mare that everyone else thought unrideable and dangerous. She would let no one else handle her, and she could not be stabled with the other horses. Around this time, a rival Jarl attempts to challenge Jon for control of Jorvik. This challenger has a lot of support among those who felt as if Jon Jarls was forsaking their old ways by jioning with these "Keepers of Aideen" and acknowledging their heretic goddess. A bloody battle ensued and Thrymson led the defense of Jarlaheim from the rebels. Luck was not on the Jarl's side and all of Jon's men, with the exception of Thrymson died. It was a pyrrhic victory that left Jon Jarl in charge, but despite his heroism, Thrymson became feared and hated for surviving when so many died. Some even claimed they saw him take a blow that should have killed him. Witchcraft was suspected. Jon Jarl demanded Thrymson explain how he remained alive after the previous battle. He confessed his experience with the witch, and Jon Jarl, who had long been obsessed with finding immortality, became jelaous and hungry for this gift. He demanded that Thrymson seek out the witch for him. Thrymson eventually found the witch at Devil's Gap and she told him that if he cleft a particular runestone by the stable in two, the Jarl would be rewarded. The Jarl did as Thrymson asked, but rather than a blessing, he brought down a curse as the horses in the stable were driven mad, with one exception: Thrymson's black mare. The Jarl, thinking Thrymson had betrayed him, ordered his former huskarl and friend be executed by beheading. When the axe fell, Thrymson's head rolled, but his body stood up! His horse ran up the ramparts, neighed and reared and carried Thyrmson away. After that, Jon Jarl made amends with the druids and committed to serving Aideen with renewed vigor. The headless Thrymson disappeared, but would show up periodically in the frontiers of the north, where he would attack the Jarl's men before disappearing into the night. Centuries later, no one remembered the true story of Thrymson, but his legend lives on as a sort of Bogeyman in Golden Hills Valley. English settlers mispronounced his name as Thompson, and the name stuck. Halloween 2016 You could find the Galloper at various locations during night. Once you got sufficiently close to him, a cinematic would play out and after that you'd be teleported to your home stable with a gift placed on the ground close to you. Schedule (Formerly used) * 18.00 - Hollow Woods * 19.00 - Goldenleaf Woods * 20.00 - Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur * 21.00 - Greendale * 22.00 - Mirror Marshes * 23.00 - Forgotten Fields * 00.00 - Goldenleaf Woods * 01.00 - Valley of the Hidden Dinosaur * 02.00 - Mirror Marshes Halloween 2017 Galloper Thompson wasn't present during the Halloween event in 2017. Halloween 2018 He's back in 2018, but you can't encounter him in Jorvik anymore - he is present in the Galloper's Keep now. The ghosts of the Keep reveal interesting parts of his history. Trivia * During Halloween it is common for players to hear Galloper's Scream in the Goldenleaf Forest, this is a bug of his scream from previous years, and is there every year even when Galloper is not. * Galloper Thompson has an exclusive Jorvik Wild Horse, known as Galloper Thompson's Horse. * Galloper Thompson is based on the Headless Horsemen of old European legends, most commonly found in British, Irish, and German Folklore. ** Galloper Thompson's design takes direct inspiration from author Washington Irving's Headless Horseman from the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, which is itself inspired by the Irish Dullahan. * His "lack of Aideen's light" might mean that he is actually soulless. * It's hinted by Linda at the 2019 Summer Festival, that maybe not everything was true what the ghosts told about him at Halloween the previous year. Category:Star Stable Online Category:NPC Category:Halloween